Chương 34: Trap Learning

"So, you are the brat wanting to learn from me," Trap Master Enzo said.

"Yes, Master Enzo," I replied, and he gave a small snort before stroking his pointy beard.

"Traps are an art form. Most adventurers activate them without regard, showing no finesse or understanding of the consequences. I specialize in trap toys for young children to help them develop this skill. What level are you at?"

"Level one in Trap Detection."

"Bah, completely fresh then. Might as well not count at all. Trap Detection involves sensing the subtle dangers coming from traps. This isn't Danger Sense either. Since low-tier traps have no source of Mana of their own, this danger is much more diffused and difficult to sense. Especially with traps with secondary effects and delayed reactions." He set a large wooden box on the table between us.

"This is a trap box. A toy for children to learn Trap Detection." He opened it up, and there was an opening in the box.

"You stick a hand in the opening and grip the pole inside. If you mess up, your hand will experience something unpleasant." While I knew that dismemberment and death weren't options, I was still nervous.

"At the top here, there are various contraptions. Knobs, buttons, and so on. Your job is to use the correct order to disarm the trap."

"This will improve trap detection?" I asked hesitantly as I reached inside the box with my left hand. My right hand was my dominant hand, so I didn't want to risk it for now.

"Yes. It is simple, but it helps you learn the skills necessary for dealing with traps."

"The dungeon had some wire across a tunnel, is this similar?"

"The skill is the same. As for the dungeon, that will come in time. Now I turn a lever, and it locks your left hand into place. To escape, you need to unlock the trap." Hesitantly, I turned a knob. Something poked the back of my left hand. I slightly jumped, though my left hand was trapped.

"Don't just try things out. Try to guess what they will do before you experiment. Push your Trap Sense to the limit." I focused on the skill and moved my hand to a knob that could slide.

"Something will hit me," I said after a minute and slid the knob. Something did hit my wrist.

"Good. This is as basic as it gets. Try another," Trap Master Enzo said. Someone who held the recognized title of master possessed a high level of expertise in a specific skill or group of skills. Enzo's claim to fame was his trap detection and disarmament. Various organizations offered certification by confirming certain skills, their tier, and level. If you tried to fake mastery, people would quickly discover you didn't have the right skills. One by one, I tested all the controls across the box.

None of them released my hand. I looked up at Enzo, who was smiling at me. I realized the trick to this trap box.

"The lever at the back you used initially."

"Correct. Never forget the most obvious solution. If you can see how a trap activates, that is the best way to disarm it, by simply reversing that process," he explained as I freed my left hand. He moved the wooden box away and brought out another.

"Keep working on this trap box. And no, the latch I used to lock your hand in doesn't automatically free you like the last one. I am going to prepare your next training session," Master Enzo said. It took me half an hour to carefully test each piece of the trap box. I called out each knob, slider, and button before I used them. I got about a third correct, and another third of my guesses were close. Once I had finally freed my left hand, Trap Master Enzo had returned.

"Come with me." I followed him to a room in the mansion. I noted that there were thin wires everywhere and lots of other miscellaneous contraptions scattered about.

"If you trigger a trap, it will make a loud bang. You need to move that small statue over there on that shelf over to the other side of the room on that desk, then come back here." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. I slowly began making my way through the room while he offered periodic advice.

"Don't look at how traps connect. Mana can make things much trickier with remote connections."

"If you suspect a trap, always check where you will move your body and know your retreat path. Don't startle yourself into another untested location. That is how you can set off a chain of traps and kill yourself."

"This is Trap Detection, no waving something ahead of you trying to trigger them. Do not disable them. Go around them. Memorize where the wires and plates are." When I picked up a statue, he pulled a single wire and everything shifted across the room, including the areas I had cleared. I looked at him, and he smiled.

"I am a trap master kid. Whenever you interact with anything inside the dungeon, always assume the traps have changed. The moment you assume you are safe from a trap, that is when one will get you." It took two hours, as I carefully moved through the room, to complete the task he had given me. It had been incredibly stressful, and I needed precise movement to avoid everything.

"Rest up and go about studying whatever it is you normally do. We will be at this all week. Today was just the first day. But I am going to get creative. You did well in avoiding everything, but you were slow. Tomorrow, there will be time pressure included as part of the traps." That afternoon, I studied my Eldarin Runes and Empowered Writing.

"Have fun with the Trap Master?" Tutor Damian asked me.

"It was stressful, but I felt like I learned quite a bit. It is hard to spot thin wires," I said.

"Trap Masters aren't common since their fighting skills are lacking. They often go in as a team into the dungeon or have to lure monsters into their traps on their own. That works fine on the upper layers, but the deeper one goes, the fewer traps work against monsters."

"Why is that?"

"The environment and the strength of monsters. They also get smarter and have stronger skills. Including sensory ones. The increase in their core color also denotes an increase in their combat ability."

"So, no legendary trap masters?"

"There might have been one or two. It isn't a simple build to fight with. It requires a great deal of thought and planning. Too easy to make a mistake," he said. Although Damian might not be good at fighting, he was quite learned. Also, his analysis seemed correct. Swinging a sword to kill a monster was much more straightforward than running around and trying to place traps.

"Does anyone fight only with spell skills?"

"Mana is used in all higher-tier skills, but most often fighters favor specific weapon skills, rather than a combination of magic and weapons. And increasing physical stats to survive and fight their way through. Specialization is more important to reach a higher tier. But specializing in spell skills leaves you vulnerable in the dungeon. Also, you will struggle with Mana," my tutor explained.

"But you are getting ahead of yourself again. Runes, time to focus." I nodded, focusing on the runes I had to learn in front of me. I was glad my father was changing things up; otherwise, I really might have given up. Well, not really, but my progress would have been much slower. The following day, I had to move through the grounds of the estate outside.

"A natural environment is the absolute worst, especially in the dungeon. It lulls you into a false sense of security, making you think you know how things are. Don't believe it for a second." Trap Master Enzo was sitting at the base of a statue in the gardens. I had to follow the path in front of me to get to him. My time was limited to only an hour. I cautiously advanced, inspecting each step for wires. Two loud noises occurred, indicating that a trap had been sprung. I finally made it to the Trap Master.

"What were the two traps?"

"I still can't figure out what I missed," I said, and he nodded.

"Mana disturbance for both. A rare trigger, but once you get deep enough, it will happen. Even if you do everything right, you might still trigger a trap. Good job on retreating the way you came when they went off. Now, go down that path to the fountain. You have an hour." That felt unfair, but I wasn't about to complain. I could feel my skill improving as I made my way down the following path. Occasionally, Trap Master Enzo would call something out for me to pay attention to or to correct.

No trying to leave the path or cheat the traps. In the dungeon, there were tunnels and other forced routes between chambers. I couldn't try to go around the edges. The entire point of the exercise was to bypass traps without triggering them. I also used my Mana Sense skill. Detecting mana floating, I avoided it on my path. Trap Master Enzo complimented me on that. Throughout the entire exercise, I also maintained my breathing. It was challenging to focus on multiple skills simultaneously.

Each training session left me exhausted, but in a good way. Every time I avoided a trap, I felt a sense of accomplishment that pushed me forward. Master Enzo precisely managed the difficulty to give me a couple of failures, but enough success in detecting traps if I forced myself to get them. More than the equipment or skill was involved. It was the comprehension of how to progress someone through each skill level swiftly. That was why teaching and being a Tutor were treated differently from just knowing skills.

Reflecting on teaching made me wonder if my mother had selected her Squires with this purpose in mind. I knew she did a lot for me, but it could have easily been one of her many considerations when picking people. I would have to ask her when she returned if I remembered. The question was rude as well, so it would just have to be the two of us. If she really did that, I wouldn't know what to say. I knew my mother loved me, but the more I learned, the more the shadow of her accomplishments loomed over me.

It felt so far away. It was draining to think about all the skills I would need to train. But that was what I wanted. Every little skill, every bit of effort would forge me into the ultimate legend. I was trying to verify everything about my build and considering other paths, but for now, I would trust my mother and the people she had entrusted to teach me.